Politic worms

My thoughts--all three of them--presented in words, words, words.

Friday, January 02, 2009

Stand By Me...and Me...and Me

You've probably heard that there are few cultural universals...behaviors, beliefs, character traits that are perceived in the same way by all the various peoples on the planet. Smiles are universally perceived as a show of happiness, for instance, but spiders and snakes are not seen as evil or "icky" by everybody.

Here's a sign that music is one of those transcendent practices. The video shows people from all over the world playing one song...and while all play differently with various intonations, affectations, and so on everybody is in the same key. The song chosen was "Stand By Me" (which barely beat out Tone Loc's "Wild Thing" and "Paradise By the Dashboard Lights" by Meatloaf).